1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices and methods for detecting reflected energy and, more particularly, to radar and ladar systems with enhanced range.
2. Related Art
The effective range of ground based radar and ladar systems for detecting, tracking and/or destroying targets, such as low flying aircraft and cruise missiles, is limited by line of sight. The line of sight in various directions from any particular location may be defined by the curvature of the earth and/or terrain features such as valleys, mountains and hills. This poses serious concern where it is necessary to detect and engage multiple targets in order to prevent a loss of life at a range that is greater than the effective range of the radar or ladar system.
In an attempt to increase the effective range, radar and ladar systems have been remotely located on towers, in aerostats, airships and aircraft. This requires that hundreds of pounds of electrical equipment requiring tens of kilowatts of power must be located remote from the ground. Military personnel must operate and maintain this radar hardware while it is remote from the ground. Accordingly, hardware weight, size, power requirements, operability, and maintainability make remotely locating these systems difficult and extremely expensive. Therefore, to date, no suitable device or method of increasing the effective range of radar or ladar is available.